


Strange Horses, Blacker Than Night

by madeofuniverses



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle of Hogwarts, Book 1: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Canon Compliant, Death, Gen, Hogwarts, Light Angst, Magic, Thestrals, dealing with death, idk man i had a thought and i just ran with it, kind of, mostly - Freeform, not really sure what this is tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 02:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17737457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeofuniverses/pseuds/madeofuniverses
Summary: “Only those who have seen death can see the skeletal horses, the Thestrals. And Harry sure has seen death. He saw death a few months ago, when his maybe-friend was killed in the graveyard by the monster. But earlier than that, he saw death. He saw death when he was only one year old, sitting in his crib, as his mother fell to the ground. He sees death almost every night when he dreams of screams and flashes and a loud thud.”





	Strange Horses, Blacker Than Night

**Author's Note:**

> i had an idea and had to get it out, and this is the result, so enjoy!

When Harry Potter is just one year old, a monster breaks into his home. His mother picks him up, runs upstairs, and places him in his crib. There is screaming heard from downstairs, and then his bedroom door bursts open. This is when Harry begins to cry, because his mother is screaming and putting herself between him and the monster, but then there is a flash of light and she falls to the floor. Harry watches as the monster approaches, raises a stick, and yells out a command. He watches as the monster screams out, and watches as the monster disappears.

Years later, Harry remembers none of this. All he knows is that sometimes, he would dream of yelling, crying, a flash of light, and a thud as a body hit the floor.

\---

When Harry Potter is eleven years old, a strange man tells him that he is a wizard. He takes him to a wizard street, helps him buy wizard clothes and a wizard wand and wizard school supplies. He also reveals the true story of how his parents had died, and Harry finally understands his strange dreams.

He had watched his mother die.

He enters a train station through a wall, meets new friends who love to look at his strange scar, and takes a magical train to his magical new school. Once the train arrives, Harry sees the strange man again. He leads them to the lake, and they go to the castle by way of small boats that row themselves. Right. Magic.

His new friend explains that only first years use the magical boats, but most students use magical carriages to get to the school. They’re also magical because they also move by themselves, with nothing to pull them along.

\---

When Harry Potter is twelve years old, he misses the magical train to the magical school. He and his friend think it would be a good idea to steal a car and drive to school themselves, instead of asking a responsible adult to help them.

They crash the car into a magical tree that tries to kill them with its branches. They almost get expelled or arrested, he’s not really sure which. If not both. His friend’s sister is joining them in Gryffindor. And they miss the Start-of-Term Feast.

And since they arrived by way of a magical car instead of a magical train, they miss their first year of getting to school on the carriages instead of the boats.

He would have to wait until the end of the year to use the magical carriages that moved on their own.

\---

When Harry is twelve years and ten months old, he learns that the carriages are not magical, that they do not move by themselves.

Everyone who was petrified was finally cured and woke up, the house elf was finally free of that horrid family, the strange man was let out of prison, and Harry had survived another year at the magical school. He leaves the castle with the rest of the students but stops in his tracks when he finally sees the magical carriages for the first time.

His friend stops too, admiring the carriages that he too is seeing for the first time. He asks Harry if he is also amazed that they are magical, that they move on their own and aren’t being pulled by anything.

Except that they are. They are being pulled by strange horses, blacker than night and completely fleshless, with white eyes and black wings sprouting from their bodies.

They terrify Harry, but he is also curious. He is one of the only ones to see them, he could quickly tell. A few other students seem to be looking in the direction of the horses, so he assumes he isn’t the only one. But nobody else talks about them, and they obviously aren’t common knowledge, seeing as how his friend does not know they even exist.

So Harry let it go. He assumes there is a reason, a reason why he can see them but others could not. But that isn’t unusual for Harry. He is often different, unique, the odd one out. He is used to it. So Harry let it go.

They walk to the carriages, waiting in line to be taken to the station by the magical carriages that probably weren’t actually magical so they can board a magical train and leave the magical school.

Harry’s life is full of magic these days. So a dozen skeletal horses that most people cannot see doesn’t really bother him too much.

He does pet one on his way to a carriage, though. Just to see what it would feel like. He is curious, after all.

\---

When Harry Potter is fifteen years old, he finally gets some answers.

He meets a new girl on the train, who seems to be friends with his friends. They leave the train together and catch a carriage together. By now, Harry has gotten used to seeing the skeletal horses pulling the carriages. He still doesn't know what they are. He’s curious, but not curious enough to enter a library. He hasn’t yet met anyone who also sees the horses. Until now. He can tell that the new girl can see them, just by the way she glances longer than others at the front of the carriages, exactly where the horses stand.

She notices him looking too, but tells him not to worry. She says that he’s just as sane as she is, but that doesn’t really help to comfort him. She doesn’t seem to be completely sane, but then again, Harry himself probably isn’t either. So he figures that’s okay.

When Hedwig gets injured and he finds a teacher to help, she mentions that it might have been Thestrals who hurt her, except that the local herd was well trained. He doesn’t know what Thestrals were, nor does he care, however, because all he focuses on is whether or not his magical pet who has been through it all with him will be alright.

Months later, when they learn about Thestrals in class, is when Harry finally understands. The strange man brings out one of the skeletal horses that pull the carriages, and Harry learns that two others can see the horses. He also learns they are called Thestrals, and that there’s a herd at the school that the strange man had trained. He also learns that the headmaster sometimes uses them as transportation when he travels too far to simply apparate. And he also finally learns why he is able to see them when most others cannot.

His friend reveals the truth actually, because she is the smartest witch their age and he would have asked her about the horses if he were any more curious about them that he felt the need to find out what they were.

Only those who have seen death can see the skeletal horses, the Thestrals. And Harry sure has seen death. He saw death a few months ago, when his maybe-friend was killed in the graveyard by the monster. But earlier than that, he saw death. He saw death when he was only one year old, sitting in his crib, as his mother fell to the ground. He _sees_ death almost every night when he dreams of screams and flashes and a loud thud.

So now it makes sense, why Harry can see the Thestrals while others could not. He had seen his mother die, fourteen years ago, and he sees her die, again and again, almost every night, when he dreams.

\---

When Harry Potter in fifteen years and ten months old, he needs to find a way to the magical ministry, to fight the monster and save his godfather, who is all that he has left.

He leads the group into the forest because he knows of a way. He recalls the strange man’s lessons, of magical horses that most could not see, but could be used as transportation when one needed. He helps those who had not witnessed death themselves onto the skeletal horses.

They flew on Thestrals that night. They flew to the magical ministry, were led straight into a trap, and Harry watched the godfather whom he loved fall into the veil. He was gone. He had used the Thestrals to lead his friends directly into a trap.

\---

When Harry Potter is sixteen years and eleven months old, he is snuck out of his childhood home, using decoys, broomsticks, magical motorcycles, and, of course, Thestrals.

On this trip, one man loses his life, a friend loses his ear, and Harry loses one of the only things who had been with him through it all: Hedwig. His owl is gone.

Over the next year, Harry and his friends search for lost objects, defeat many enemies, and fight hard at the magical school. This time, however, they do not enter using a magical train and not-actually-magical carriages, rather they enter through a magical portrait and a magical passageway into a magically hidden room.

He fights, he enters the forest, he dies, and he comes back to life. He sneaks out of the strange man’s arms and the battle begins. Giants had come. But so had the Thestrals.

The strange horses, blacker than night and completely fleshless, with white eyes and black wings sprouting from their bodies, join the fight.

And finally, after so, so long, Harry Potter defeats the monster.

**Author's Note:**

> if you liked it or have any thoughts, please share in the comments!


End file.
